The Crimson fencers' quest for the Ivy tittle suffered a severe setback Saturday as they lost to the Princeton Tigers, 17-10, at Princeton.

Coach Edo Marion, who said he had expected his team to win, said yesterday that the fencers just did not have enough "spark".

The Crimson had a tough time in the sabre and epee, managing to come up with only four points in the two events.

Captain Gordon Rutledge and sophomore John Major picked up one point apiece in the sabre, while John Hershfield and Matt Simmons did the same in epee.

Foil Victories

The foil team picked up the honors for the Crimson as they took victories in six of their nine events.

Phillippe Bennett turned in the best performance of the day as he triumphed in all three of his bouts. Larry White came close as he took two bouts. While Nick Tepe took the last of the bouts for the fencers.

Fencing manager Steven Hobbs said. "The team had the determination to win and because of it their fencing suffered. Instead of concentrating on each move, they concentrated on the match and consequently both suffered."